For several African countries, travel and tourism is one of their largest industries and source of income. This means that when you travel in Africa, you have a great impact on the host population’s life and the local community’s economy. It is therefore important that you pay extra attention to what choices you have and what decisions you make. The main question is: What can you do to make sure that the money you spend at your destination actually stays there and pays off as much as possible for the local population? How can you support the African economies by traveling responsibly?
Responsible Travelers Eat Local Food
One obvious way to make sure that your money really pays off for the local community is to buy food at local markets, locally owned restaurants or from local producers. You can also find big resorts that are managed by locals, or that focus particularly on serving locally grown food. Another rule to remember is: do not eat at international fast food chains or imported food. This is important because you decision to eat at a local restaurant may not only be important to that particular owner, but also for the local producers who provides this restaurant with meat and vegetables. The money the owner and the local producers earn from doing business with you, will keep circulating in the local community when the owners spend money on sending his daughter to the local school, the producers spend money on local markets etc. The point is that when you choose to support one local business, you actually end up supporting the whole community in the long run. This is what economists call the Multiplier Effect. You may just spend 10 bucks on a meal, but those 10 bucks might just circulate long enough to give an extra income hundreds of different people!
Use Responsible and Sustainable Accommodation
The exact same thing as with food is valid for your choice of accommodation. If you choose to stay at an international hotel chain or just foreign owned resort, a big share of the price you pay goes straight out of the country. Stay at a locally owned place and you do not only support the owner and employees, but you support all the people that they do business with. And if you prefer to stay at luxurious resorts, a few minutes on Google will help you find several lodges that focus on Responsible, Sustainable, Green Eco-Tourism!
Support Local Businesses by Being Impulsive
Some of the activities you plan to do will probably not be in risk of selling out, so you can often support the community by waiting till you arrive at the destination and book your activities through local small businesses rather than the international chains that you find in your home town. Or even if you weren’t planning to do that bungee jump, white water rafting or safari, maybe you should! It might be an extra cost to your trip, but what the heck, you’re on vacation and the money goes to a community that depends on your spending!
So, Do You Want to Be a Responsible Traveler?
If you are not convinced yet, here are some finalizing points: Food, lodging and activities are often way more inexpensive if it is ran and owned locally rather than the large international companies you find online. Another good reason is that you will experience the local culture and life in a much deeper and realistic way by getting out of your comfortable Hilton hotel room and actually interact with the local people. After all; food, people, culture, experiences and excitement are the most important reasons why you travel to Africa in the first place, right?
Do you have any thoughts about responsible travel in Africa? Any suggestions to how I can travel more responsibly? Leave a comment!
Another key thing..
1.Giving to street children more often then not does NOT support them. In places like Kenya, parents often exploit street-children, as do pimps who make up for losses in profits when girls flee by sending the younger girls out to beg. If you feel bad, make a donation to a street-child outreach.
2. Don’t feel like you need to buy everything! The only thing worse then a bleeding heart is a bleeding wallet. It is perfectly fine to haggle, buy at a cheaper price, or pick on local store over the other.
3. Don’t buy American goods resold on the street just because they are cheap. Buying foreign goods locally puts local clothing merchants and manufacturers out of business. I made the mistake of buying a pair of black market Puma’s and when I learned that their are Kenyan-made shoes that are just as good, I felt silly.
4. Don’t be an Ugly American: If you don’t know ASK! Tip your waiter, know where you want to go and the address before you get in a Taxi or van, don’t take pictures of everything and everyone, especially in remote tribal areas, where it may be seen as offensive or culturally taboo.
5. Buying fruit locally is usually safe, and a great way to support poor families! If you have doubts, check with your Embassy before leaving. As with all fruit in a foreign country, wash AND PEEL anything that contain solid rind,no matter how thin ,even if they seem clean because they came from a grocer.
@Jesse Osmun
Thanks for some very good points! I agree with them all, and they are definitely things people should keep in mind when traveling in Africa. As you said; don’t take pictures of everyone you see. Some places they will really be offended by this, and in some Africa cultures it is believed that you take their soul away when you photograph them. So you should always ask before you take pictures.
Does anyone have more thoughts about how we can travel as responsibly as possible?
Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa is an association that was formed to support the local communities. many of the activities, such as Whale watching and Shark diving in Gaansbaai, Hermanus and Plettenberg Bay as well as other activities belong to this organistion and proudly show off this stamp of approval. It shows that the money they make goes back into either conservation or communities, building and conserving – watch out for anyone displaying this stamp and you will know it is fair and use their services.
Some hotels are built and run purely to serve the environment and to look after their staff and communities as they know, without them, they are not going to be successful, Google will give you all the information you need on these kinds of places and then request your agent in your hometown or if you book through a local company in the country of travel, to book and enquire on these, as sometimes they will rather offer you the chain hotels, or the international hotels as they earn a higher commission, but if a traveller requests a certain product, they are obliged to quote and book it..
Happy Travels and thank you for supporting and believing in our beautiful continent.
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